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Wednesday, July 27, 2011

The great news as I mentioned before is the turn out has been large. We had another 26 man field last night. I have had to miss a few races so I really can't possibly contend for the series overall. But that doesn't mean I can't do some damage in these last 6 races.

So I stuck with my same mantra from last week. Forget the 1st sprint prime, stay up front and see how my legs feel.

I did this without any real big effort and again my recovery was restored within a couple of minutes.

2nd prime came up, and I rolled through up front. This time not letting off the gas to see if anyone would hitch on and possibly take a flyer off the front with me.

3 guy's jumped on to cover my attack, but only 1 was willing to work with me. We stayed off for less than two laps.

Basically after finding only 2 of us working we sat up and said pass for now.

With 14 minutes left in the 60 minute race. I was really looking for a big attack. The points leader in the series races for Long Beach State and he has help of 2 other riders from his team. One of them is strong, the other is still in a learning curve I would say. There were again some new faces with some strength out there. Along with several other guy's that have put in some good races. Truth be told 8 weeks ago they intimidated me a bit. Now " it's on", I say bring that shite !

It was a fast pace race all night. The total distance covered was 28.8 miles averaging 24.2 mph and max speed 34.5 mph, according to the Garmin. Total calories fried away in 60 minutes was almost 2800. I love that.

With 4 laps to go it was on full speed ahead. 2 guys got wise and jumped off the front when we resumed speed after finally getting passed by the pro 1/2/3 field. Another one chomped the bit and went also. I sadly report that wasn't me. And regretfully I was looking for it, and told myself no matter what, I was going.

Well, I didn't. I didn't believe they could get away.

I'll save you the suspense they did. Although I thought we had reeled one of them back, it must have just been a lapped rider. So in reality on the final lap, the field of probably 15-18 guys left would be lining up to sprint for 4th - 10th. No one else gets scored or points past position 10.

Somehow I rotated to almost the very back on that last lap. Once I looked over and seen only 4-5 guys tailing off the back I immediately got up and out of the saddle to move into a proper draft position up front.

I eventually settled into a bit of a disorganized cluster of riders 3 wide and several deep.

I was getting, or letting myself get blocked out to the outside a little. I like charging up the right on the sprint finish, I think there is less wind ?

I may be fooling myself ?

But I wasn't going to make it. We had already made the final turn and the field is absolutely flying now. So I hunched over and got on the front of my seat. Just soaking up every ounce of draft I could and bullied my way up the middle. This is a sketchy approach on a mass sprint finish, but sometimes it's necessary. I was able to get up in a slot and pull to the line strong coming across 3 wide with one more just ahead of us by a half bike. I ended up placing 7th over all in which I again have mixed emotions on due to the fact that I/we let the breakaway stay away.

So there it is, another Tuesday night recap.

Safe and sound with no carnage in our race. Although there was 2 separate crashes in the Pro 1/2/3 race and the Masters class.

The wreck in the p/1/2/3 race got kind of nasty. I'm told a chain got snapped and wrapped around a racers leg causing a very deep and fairly long gash. It didn't sound sweet and he was hospital bound.

I also got one last El Dorado race with Eric my son there. He became a great cheering squad and sideline supporter the last month.

This was post race after turning in race numbers and the parking lot clearing. I have to say it has been a blessing to have the experience with him, and a true testimonial about how working hard and not quitting pays off.

For the books he had me coming over the line in 3rd, less the 3 off the front. Again If I was in some heated battle where points meant more I would dispute it. Um, that's not really the case so I will just roll with it.

Friday, July 22, 2011

It has been awhile since I personally challenged myself in an all out assault. Me and bike VS. road and elements.

I love TT. It is one of the original reasons I gravitated towards triathlon back in the day.

If I could afford it, I would have a TT bike again that would match the luster of my current road bike. With that said I had to choose one or the other due to the expense of said road bike.

No worries, I love my road bike and I challenge myself to stay in the drops and arms bridged over the top bar for miles on end. If there is anything good of this, it's that it has made me a much more aggressive bike handler in the drops sans high speed,tight racing conditions. Also when I do have the opportunity to acquire another true Hi Mod TT bike I'm sure it will be more appreciated.

Total ride was near flat with some minor rises. Total distance was 24.6 miles, of which only 17.5 was measured as the TT distance. I used the 1st 7 miles of surface streets to wake up, and warm up. Drinking about 10 o.z. or so of Citomax energy and taking in a Honey Stinger waffle. It also is the beginning of an all flat 7.2 mile section of river trail that I never have to stop or worry about cross traffic. It can be boring as hell on a normal basis, but for intervals or TT purpose it is perfect.

The 2nd section is a 10.4 mile straight stretch of PCH with the last 2.8 miles turning inland with to small climbs. I shut down the true effort .4 miles from home. I did my absolute best to lower cadence and time every light to never come to complete stop. I also blew through two exposed corner lights that I could see had no traffic. I know that is not o.k. to do, I don't even condone it. I'm just being honest here. The slow down and wind up is what kills the body in a TT.

Total ride of 24.86 miles was 1h 20m 6s

Total TT time for 17.5 miles was 42:35:13 = Average speed over 17.5 miles @ 24.2 mph.

I think, know I had left everything out there. I have felt great over the last 9 days and chose this after 2 days rest. I would love to hit this again on a carbon, fitted TT bike, just to see what I could truly shave off.

Of course there are a bunch of variables, of weather (it was dead wind,62 degree sun up).

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

All was good in my little carved out world of bike racing last night.
I want to give a personal thank you to my legs for showing back up.

Last night at El Dorado Tuesday Night Worlds Criterium races was thick heat, with a nice large turn out of 23+ racers and a fast pace.
Garmin shows average speed for 1hr at 24.6 mph and max speed of 33.4 (no doubt, sprints).

I finally felt solid at a race since my vacation 4 weeks ago. I have had some great training sessions in the last 2 weeks and my food has been pretty spot on.
As said above we had a decent Tuesday night field of 23 + racers. All kinds of new faces and several of them came to make there presence be known.
It was pretty hot still at 6:15 p.m. when we got going. I started off in the front 5-8 guys and then slowly rolled all the way to the back just to see who was all there. I wanted to see who I recognized from El Do, or other local races, some I knew and some I didn't. What I do know is that the season is winding down rapidly and there are people that will likely be trying to gain points for category upgrades in CBR hosted races along with soon to be affiliated USAC.
You either have to be consistent and show up at nearly every race or absolutely dominate at 70 % of them.
I didn't do either this year. I have had some good races and some weak minded messes. But I have accumulated enough points in May to be moved to Cat 4.
My real goal was to be able to move to the Masters Cat 3 for next season, but I'm not sure that will happen. Will see how strong I can finish out these next 2 months or really 7 weeks.

Racing- I had already put it in my head that I wouldn't contend for the 1st prime sprint. I would stay up front and follow a lead out, but would not break out and line sprint. I wanted to see where my legs and lungs would be tonight. As it wound up I really should have sprinted. Without much effort I crossed the sprint line in a close bunch at about 6th position. My recover time was nearly nothing and my heart rate was about the same (considering).
Prime 2 came and my tactic was as usual, stay 6-7 man back in the center and break out on the out side as the frenzy got close to the line. I did this and again with very little effort I crossed in 4th (I think) I may have done better, but I don't know. My goal tonight was not mid race prime points, but over all points.
I was basically saving the majority of my legs for the finish line tonight.
The one thing I didn't factor was anyone coming off the front and staying there.
Sure enough, the lap after the 2nd prime sprint there were 3 guys that went off the front. Then another 2 that eventually bridged across to them.
Normally I don't get all consumed with this. The course is 1.7 miles long with exposed wind spots and it is hard as hell to stay away. But 5 guy's could cause some damage if they worked together. I tried twice to form a chase with a couple of guy's to pull them back. Twice we failed.
In an effort with 3 others we were able to bring back 3 of the 5 and 2 of them stayed away until the end.
I say good freakin job to them !!
As for the final 2 laps it seemed a bit sketchy. There were still about 13 racers that had hung on all night. I would say 1/3 of them looked absolutely wrung out and would no way contend for the sprint. However there were the usual suspects that I knew would be in the mix come that last turn.
And as we approached the final left hand we were cracking the whip at about 30 mph. I stayed focused and hammering with 1 final gear to shift into. It was getting fast and there was at least 9 guy's pulling for the line. At about 30 meters and sooner than I would have liked, I hit that last cog and jumped out of the saddle to see what damage I could do.
When it was all said and done I came across the line in a photo finish as me and another guy pulled away from the others.
I ended up conceding to said racer at the line ( less than 3 treads worth of a difference). With 2 already off the front we were sprinting for the final podium spot of 3rd.

So 4th overall in a good size field with some hungry racers. I feel good about the effort. I don't feel as if I left much of anything out there. I do regret not going with the breakaway. But I'm happy I stuck with my game plan.

Monday, July 18, 2011

It's hard to do. But what else is there, just suffer and moan about the whole thing ? Where is the fun and inspiration in that?
I choose to suffer, recover and blog about it. You may not care, but it sure makes me feel better to write down the experience and reference back to it at a later date.

But first real quick : My son ( the youngest and biological) is a great kid. Very respectful, has learned his manners well. And when asked to do so, can accomplish whatever he is tasked with. This sounds great, but there is a price to pay with that. If he is not asked, he is content with just kicking back. I'm am not a big fan of this, at any age. SHOCKED aren't you ! I knew you would be. With that said he turned 11 this past June. He has been involved in and even excelled at some of the following over the past 8 years. Ice hockey, baseball, BMX, skateboarding,dirt bikes,snowboarding,swimming,surfing,basketball. Typically he is good, to very good. He is super coordinated, agile and lean. He has a natural athleticism in him. However nothing has ever stuck.
This was the summer I told him he needed to really find something. Whatever it was I didn't care, he just needed to choose it, stick with it and have some passion for it.
He chose PaKua discipline of Karate.
Long of the short, he has taken this all on his own over the last 6 weeks. Attending hour long classes sometimes 3 days a week. This week there Grand Master is visiting from Brazil. Normally it would be to soon for a belt evaluation. But the 2 studio instructors that have worked with him most asked if they could have him evaluated anyways. They would waive the normal fee, but just show up.
I had to have the sit down conversation with him, that all though he has been asked to participate, and I am very proud of his advancement. The likely hood of him receiving any type of progression at this point would be pretty unlikely. But that his teachers were very pleased with his progress and wanted him to demonstrate in front of the Grand Master since he only comes out once a year.
There was 7 under teen kids testing for evaluations from grey belt down.I was absolutely shocked that even in the rotation, where he had to demo against a much higher belt, he never lost focus, and remembered everything without hesitation.
Long of the short, after the 50 minute evaluation they awarded him 2 yellow stripes to his white belt. He was super proud, and with his instructors did it on his own. I really hope and pray this sticks for him.

I am super proud of him too.

On to other things.
Saturday's ride was set to be epic either way and or either ride. I had originally chose the "A" ride for the extra miles. But then when looking at the "B" ride sheet I saw that everyone was going to get the main climbs, be it A or B. Since I ride in to the start point and had a wedding to be at come 1:30, I chose to ride the "B" route. 12 miles less by the slip and 1.2 miles less climbing. Adam A,K.A. Junior showed up ! I was impressed, good job Patrick for coaxing him.

The 1st climb is Newport Coast and is no joke. 1.8 miles to crest and goes above 8 % a good deal of the way. However something I had never done was put out there. Just before the last little kicker you make a right on Vista ridge. This adds 1.2 miles at the very least same % if not steeper at times. To make things worse more interesting, you make another left and climb another mile at about 6 % with one 50 meter section that tables a bit. Just enough to let the blood change directions in your legs, with a heads up that they are going to burn again real quick.
By nature I am more of a pursuit rider or sprinter. On the flats I can ride with a very strong tempo and hold my own in allot of situations. On steep climbs, I generally get through them. Hate them. And then love that I did them.
Today was different though I took off in a steady tempo and never let off. I was quite proud of my climbing and was no where near the last person up. I even found myself riding tempo for a couple of guys to help them up and through the pain. My only regret was not stopping at the perfect bending vista point just near the top and taking a photo.
I'm going to do this climb again soon and I will definitely take the shot. It will be hell to restart at this point but the picture that over looks the coastline will be worth it.
Making the turn to head downhill was a welcome sight. And because I felt so damn good I got in the drops and just hammered. We had a solid 2-3 mile decent and I had a few of the guy's jump on and hang on. They had to be shitting at 43 mph I know I was. That may have been my hairiest decent to date. My front brakes almost became none existent and I think that without professional constant tuning of my bike, that I should never push that envelope to that level anytime soon.
The normal "B" ride group skipped that little detour and we all meet back at the bottom of the decent. We still had a minor climb up the back of Turtle ridge to get to the rest point. At this time the climb seemed like a roller in comparison (it's not). From there we would split up. I asked Adam if he was riding A or B and not be persuaded by my decision to do the shorter ride. He opted for "B" and we pushed on. I was quite impressed by the kids climbing skills. Although he is built like a Schleck, I have never got to see him do anything but flat riding. And really up until last Tuesday I had not been very impressed. But he has since gained some confidence and this too is epic.
When finished out some more minor ups and downs. Made our way through another 2-3 cities and back into Newport. I took these shots as we sat waiting to regroup.
This shot is overlooking a small section of the Newport back bay.

This is a few of the guys waiting.

And from there it is just about pacing back. We are only about 15 or so miles from the HB Pier. Good times. I did allot of work up front for the "B" ride, as it should be. In the 'A" I definitely choose my pulls in the "B" I feel a bit more obligated these day's.
All said and done I got in just under 66 miles and made it to said wedding on time. Thankfully it was a casual California wedding. I was able to wear shorts.
Here's a question ? How many people out of the 100 or so there noticed the shaved legs and wondered WTF ? LOL !
On the other hand, how many people saw my calves and said WTF ? Again LOL !
Sunday was kick back and some minor house items.
Morning ride today was a 24.26 miles loop in 1h 17m recovery at a good pace with noooooooo wind at all.

Friday, July 15, 2011

I wish the whole U.S. or at least all of California could embrace this.

It's a whole lane, let alone near perfect surface. Just for the safety and enjoyment of commuting or recreational cycling.

So tomorrow is a long ride with plenty of climbing with OC VELO. Which in this case I'm pretty happy about because this will not be just a couple thousand feet and some miles when done. This can and will likely hurt more than a bit at times. With that said, I look forward to doing it in some sort of group be it small or a bit bigger. Here's the route sheet. I add about 13-16 miles to the sheet because I like to ride to the meeting spot from my house. There is just something about leaving my garage and returning to it upon completion. This is not the clubs most treacherous ride, but it has it's place at the top.
My only real complaint issue thoughts, is that I did a bit of this ride just last weekend. Let's hope there is no repeat performance in that brouhaha.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I started a vacation June 17th @ 5:00 p.m. On June 19th I wrecked my back doing (literally) nothing.
For 8 day's I was away from the possibility of a bike ride. I brought my running shoes with me, but even 2 extremely high priced massages in a Mexican paradise could not fix the issue.
I stayed on the muscle relaxers and Advil the entire time, yes mixed with some bloody Mary's and beers.
There was no reprieve.
I kept swimming daily to stretch it out, and it did feel better when I was doing it. However 30 minutes upon completion I was a crooked mess again.

I tried a race June 28th as my back was near normal. The problem was too many day's off, and too many day's recovering. Where I should have had fresh legs at least, they where flat and I had no fitness. Along with a mental head case, that told me I couldn't do it.
That race was a train wreck. It took everything I had just to finish. I would have abandoned it all together had my son not come with me that night.
What was I going to tell him ? "WE QUIT SOMETIMES" . That was not going to happen. On top of that the young kid that I/we (we being Patrick) from http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ have tried to mentor and encourage, showed up.
Now keep in mind, he has not listened to a damn thing I have tried to tell him, and I believe this go's for Patrick also.
Long of the short he was there also, and that would not fly in my mind if I dropped out while he was there either. By the way, he once again dropped out that night :-(.

I had all but given up on him, as excuses seemed never ending and kind of repetitive.

Fast forward July 10th, I had skipped Tuesday night race on the 5th as I had still not been able to get a bunch of miles in. There was no need to go suffer and hang on. I knew where my form was and or wasn't. There was no need to go pay $ 10.00 to get beat down. I chose to just keep getting the miles in.

Sadly, prior to going on vacation I may have been in the best form in almost 2 decades. Also sadly how an injury and a few weeks can change that all.

I had to make a decision on July 10th to race or not. It for me was an important race, being one of the last 3 major criteriums of the season. Also for me to do it, it would have been a very tight morning and may have caused some conflict. I weighed my options and chose to not press the issue and race.
I was pretty down about this, but did get out for a long road ride solo that morning only to flat and ... you can read that here if you missed it http://tri714-letsdothisagain.blogspot.com/2011/07/written-and-researched-so-well.html.
From that ride on my confidence had changed. Once again I have felt control on the bike and control over my fitness path.
Tuesday night It was on again for local crit racing. Come hell or high water I was going to work and be proud of my efforts.
To my surprise, Jr. was there again.I won't lie, I was kind of, so what at first. But he made is way over and said although he hadn't been following any written training plan ( I shivered ) he had been putting out some longer, harder efforts.
Then the father side of me kicked in. I said let's spin some warm up laps.
I told him tonight could be different if he would listen to me and forget everything he hasn't learned. I think it may have pissed him off a bit, but I didn't care. For me tonight was a sink or swim to him.

As we rode our warm ups I told him, for no reason would he take any length of pull up front. And if by chance he had to pull through behind me, that he was immediately to get off the front and drop back. He was to never go further back than 10th (ever).
He was to take a decent size drink from his bottle 1/2 lap prior to sprinting and when we made it through the sprint points he was to not hold that pace and recover.
Loudly, I told him in these words, "when the prime bells ring, or they show the 2 laps to go sign, you follow my ass as long as you can ". If you have more gas in the tank, jump right to outside, put your head down and turn the cranks as hard as you can". If you do this tonight, you will not only finish your first race, but you will get some results. Can you do this ? He replies, I can try.
Again, I'm a little deflated by the response, the kid is like 21, 6'-2" tall weighing in around 165 lbs and fairly ripped. I'm thinking WTF !!
Screw trying, "LETS DO THIS THING" !

So all that is long winded, and hopefully not to boring. I just need you to get a visual of where my head is at not only with racing at this time, but Jr.
I'll keep it short here.
Prime 1 - I kept jockeying over my shoulder to see if he was still there. He stuck like glue and pulled out 2nd or 3rd.
Prime 2 - same thing, I pulled him from middle all the way to the far right for the bull whip at 25 meters and he just missed 3rd spot.
On the finish He held on as I bullied my way up the middle. I never saw where he jumped out, But at the line he was right there with us and contended. Finishing up in 4th place.
Holy shit he finally came through ! He went from never completing one of these races to contending in the primes and just missing a podium.
The only negative, was that his right foot pulled out and came unclipped with about 10 yards before the line. that was a bit scary to say the least.
With one look at his cleats, I told him to stop doing runway modeling in them. They are not shoes, don't where them like they are, and buy some new cleats.Fortunately he laughed and we got to celebrate a bit.
For me it was like winning. I won't be a lead out train every week, but I will continue to help him. In turn he will begin to help me. I contended for the 2 sprints and I now know I finished 7th over all with a starting field of 19. Not great points wise, but I was as happy as if I had finished top 3 myself.

So today was more of a short 20 mile recover spin in early morning greyness.

heading down through Seal beach and into long beach. I took this because ya'll seem to not thinking I'm capable of snapping pictures while riding at high tempo.

truth is I can. and I never really worry about removing my hands from the bars unless it's 3 wide or more.
I got a shot of the infamous 3 mile island nuclear facility. I always see this harbour in screen shots on Burn Notice.

It's a horrible picture I know, but what can I say. I have time issues in the morning and don't like to stop and shoot, I just like to ride and shoot.

Once I got back out of Long Beach and through Naples, I crossed back over into Seal beach and this bus caught my Eye, as if the Belgium's came to visit.

Interestingly enough the cheesy motel/apartments there (also way out of focus) often shows up on the show Dexter. Got to love the Dexter ! Dude is crazy.

The recovery ended up being a little more tempo as I'm am feeling quite strong again. It was still short but sweet.
20.58 m in 1h 1m 9s.
Looking forward to Saturday's long ride now and a early run tomorrow morning.

These are my horrible gifts to you for listening to my long rants. Thanks for reading.

Monday, July 11, 2011

I have been praising this guy all year (Voeckler). And this is an awesome homage to him and who he is. If you have watched any Grand tours at all this year, or even the larger 1 day races, YOU'VE SEEN HIM ! And this guy takes his work seriously.

As far as the race has gone ? Big names falling to ongoing carnage. And how about KOM Hoogeland ?
Holy crap !!

That was just not right on so many levels.

O.k. enough about that.

Saturday was a boating weekend. How do you like this sweet ride ?

Here's the captain.

it was the boys day out at the lake, ummmm I mean duck pond.

It was my fear that it was going to get stuck out there and I was going to have to get in that stenchy mess to get it back. But it never happened and we had a blast chasing rouge ducks and geese around with it ( Uh I mean ) quietly cruising it around.

Sunday was a solo effort to ride south and climb the always challenging Newport Coast Drive. It's roughly 20 miles to get there. Then you are greeted with pleasure of climbing a grade that crest over 8% for a couple of miles. It does drop below that grade at times, but less face it, it's a grind. No pun intended. And what goes up must come down, so you have that going for you. I hooked up with a guy at about mile 9 on the way out. With no conversation with each other we just started exchanging pulls. We hit green light, after green light and were averaging about 26 mph. This was by the way faster than I wanted to head out. This held up for about 4 miles then we hit a light.
I was stoked to be able to let off and recover, I'll admit I was cracking a bit, but pushing to hang in and take my turns off the front.
We pulled up, unclipped a foot and looked at each other with shit eating grins. It was no doubt a mutual relief. Conversation went like this.
ME- Where you heading ? or are you headed back home ?

HIM- I'm not sure yet, I'm thinking of climbing Newport Coast.

ME- Chuckle out loud- I'm thinking the same thing, I'll see how my legs feel when I get there, I'm still trying to get some riding legs back since a vacation a couple of weeks ago.

HIM- How long of a vacation ?

ME- Over 10 day's with no riding.

HIM- Ouch, that can be tough. Unless you get to ride allot ?

ME- Not that guy. I'm a 2-3 day a week guy, coupled with 1 long weekend ride.

HIM- Yep, I get it. You good to keep going ?

ME- Yeah, sure, how's this pace ?

HIM- A bit fast, but I'm good.

ME- O.k, so does that mean we can back off a bit.

HIM- That would be great by me. I just didn't want to be the one.

ME- O.k then I'll be the one, let's tone it down just a bit.

HIM- Lights green.

We never talked about it again. And I don't care if I was the weaker one. I would have been a mess continuing at that pace. We did the climb in pretty much tempo. He was a smaller rider and paced fast. I let him go ahead without concern, we regrouped at the bottom.
He was turning right, I was turning left.
With a waive goodbye that was done, and pretty cool.
From there I headed back down to the flats at PCH. Unfortunately that would become literal.
I managed to get a 1 " deck screw impaled in my rear tire. Thankfully it was AFTER I had made it up, then down and heading home. Well about 16 miles from home that is.
No worries, we get flats right.
However you trust your brand new unused tube will inflate, bzzzzzz, wrong ! It was useless.
Thankfully road cyclist have each others back, even when you are rolling solo, we always shout out and ask if the stopped rider is o.k.
In my case today though, a guy just stopped.
I told him the story, he broke out a spair and gave it up. He said he had 2 and didn't expect a flat anyways. (TALK ABOUT THE KISS OF DEATH STATEMENT). I hope he didn't get one, but that was a crazy thing to say. He even gave up a c02.
How about that thing was defective too. WTH ??
Just as he was willing to give up another one. Another guy just stops out of the blue. Asking if all was o.k.
We spill the story, and he's like, yah that's why I spent the $ 40.00 for one of these mini pumps. It is not as cool as C02, but you can pump your tire up over 120 psi if need be.
So there it was in unison, it all came together.
Within 2 minutes it was back together and on. Rolling again. It was about 10:15 now and the wind was starting it's thing.
Everyone mounted up and started north. I never even asked where they were heading. But it was somewhere north. I did get there names though, Andy and Chris.
Within a mile the wind was effecting the ride with a switching cross and headwind. I jumped on the front and ran lead out for the duration.
I never saw where either of them turned off. So as quickly as the showed up, they went away.
There is no moral here, just a cool roadie story.

Just under 55 miles, with some hills and drama. Racing tomorrow night. Assuring that things will go better than my last showing 3 days after vacation.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Exactly a year ago today I went out for my first road bike ride in at least 7 years. I had also just started running again and had some vision in my head that I could do a triathlon again.
So at roughly 220 lbs. I did very little homework and bought this.

This was an awesome find on Craigslist. And although I was pretty out of touch with the latest and greatest (not that I needed that), I felt $ 500.00 for an aluminum and carbon bike with Dura Ace components was pretty dope. So I drove out some 75 miles away and picked it up.
My first ride was love hate. I loved being back on a bike , but as many of you know, your body just screams at you in so many different ways. My legs, my back, trying to ride in aero (LOL). The actual adjustment was so far off and I rode it that way for at least a month before grasping that it was more than just being out of form.
On 9-1-11 I started this blog and then soon meet Patrick from http://www.theroadmultisport.com/ as luck would have it.
Even luckier than that, he turned out to be a very stand up guy just a few years younger and has some great life and family values. Loved the sport of triathlon and was in the semi early stages of getting his athletic life back on track.
Turns out we have similar likes and interests, and although we took different paths in our lives, somethings were parallel, others not so much. However, we hit it off and became friends and encourager's of each other. Our schedules don't match much but we have accomplished a tri together and some local bike races along with a half marathon.
This post isn't about Patrick, but that last paragraph says allot to me when I read it back. He along with many of you have kept me true to my training, more than some of you know. If had not been for Patrick I would have likely never entered a half marathon. With that said I'm a few day's away from re registering for the same race, who would have thunk !
By November of last year I had joined a bike club, OC VELO that he was doing rides with. I had done a sprint tri, and was putting in some miles via swim, bike run. I had lost about 12 real pounds and was really starting to love pure cycling again.
By January I bought this bike.

This ride was short lived. I had some fitting issues and it was a bit big and that apparently went along with my ego. So I sold this bike and the other and bought this one.

I freaking love this bike, the paint scheme is not for everyone. Sometimes I even wish it was a solid black or blue, or white. But the bottom line is. If your a cyclist, this bike is pretty kick ass. It weighs just over 15 lbs. and flys. I nearly let that ego and my ambitions get the best of me again about 5 weeks ago. I was ready to sell this off in support of our to be race team.

I have issues with commitment and people. I'll admit this. When I have whole heartily committed to something, "I'M IN". Know this also, if I give you the "we'll see" answer, there is a 50/50 chance I'm out. Sorry that is nothing personal, but I do let my personal home and work life dictate my schedule first.

With all that said, I'm very happy to say I have meet and made a great friend in Patrick. I'm a bit of a lone wolf these day's and have been for the last few years. Patrick probably doesn't realize that he is one of my closer friends, (until now). But he really is that stand up. When he reads this (and he will) he might also think I'm a bit pathetic, that he is one of my closer friends, LOL ! Sorry man, it is what it is. Deal with it !

So 365 days into it. My passion is just as strong. I'm well under 200 lbs now.

I still love to run, I really love to ride.

I have competed in over a dozen bike races in the last 4 months. Placed as high as 2nd over all and as bad as almost quitting.

Have huge aspirations to still build a bike team at a grass roots level and will be a big supporter of it. This is still spinning out there in mediocrity right now. Large talk and little actions. I will continue to race out this season and expect great results.

I will continue to ride 500-700 miles a month and get stronger.

I will run as much as my body allows, and try and be more diligent in working that in.

I will get back on a swim schedule next month when my son goes back to his normal schedule.

I will continue to support those on here that support me, and then some. Remember "you inspire" !

It's been a great 365 day's. I can't say I'm amazed where I have gotten. In reality I could have maybe gotten further. But on the other side of the coin, I'm right on track to continue doing what I love so much.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

2 runs in the same week ? Wow, seems amazing at this point in my life.
It would have been a wonderful morning for a dry warm ride, but I tell myself that too often and time in the Kayanos slowly gets away from me.
So there it was, another near failure to run and opt to ride.But I quickly came to my senses and and threw on the dri fits and laced them up, (well I have speed laces) so I slipped them on. Cleared the Garmin and hit play on the I-POD.
All was good on the tarmac and before I knew it I had banged out a a quick 4 miles of running. Far ? NO, Fast ? no ! I conscious and or unconsciously held a 9:06 pace for 4 miles or just over and never really thought too much about it. I just enjoyed the pounding of the road under my shoes and the sun coming up behind me. It was an awesome 68 degree sunrise and the world was right.
I'm not fast, but I do enjoy me some road running.
Back on the bike tomorrow ! But it was good times and once again a great change of pace.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

There is really no rhyme or reason, just ramblings and a mixed bag of tricks.
A week, no now 2 weeks ago. I got to get away for a few days in Nuevo Vallarta central Mexico. Having been down there many times we knew late June was a questionable weather time. But this is how the stars aligned and this is when we went.

90 degree weather with random showers was all the forecast said for weeks. So we set our minds that it would be what it was. For the most part the weather was cloudy, however we did have the occasional tropical shower. Except one day where we sat pool side at 10:00 a.m. and watched a down pour roll in.
We hung in the rain for about 30 minutes before finally retreating to the room to watch the show.

In reference to
This is a picture from our patio, and considering it was a 10 story hotel I felt pretty stoked to be pool side on a daily basis.It made for easy lunch digs for the kids, and easy cooler reloads :-)

notice the person sitting pool side still, they are actually sitting in a big fat jacuzzi. It blew out later and the evening was quite awesome. It took that humid edge away.
I didn't take many pictures but my wife did some 200 plus photos.
Grandson and grandma before a relaxed dinner at this kick butt little Brazilian restaurant.

The kids had a blast with multiple tower water slides that looked like crocodiles and man made caves under a center Island of the pools. With some small 1'-2' surf another 100 yards out, we got to body board several days in 85 degree water with very little rip tide or high surf warning drama.

My wife would likely not be happy I put this up. After seeing it I'm not sure I am. But let's keep it real o.k.

My son gets out of school every year the day before his birthday. How ridiculously cool is that. So as usual a birthday cake and his niece that is only 3 years younger than him are making wishes.

I took all three kids to Knotts Berry Farm amusement park the day before we left for rides and junk food.

Now it's back to reality. The grand kids are back in Vegas and Eric is here spending time with us. We have signed him up for martial arts and he is as usual very agile and coordinated at it. Now I only say it that way, because the kid has mad skills at whatever he tries, the problem is nothing has stuck yet. With that said, he is probably as exited about this as I have ever seen him. So we'll keep our fingers crossed that it takes and he continues on some type of athletic quest for discipline and structure.

That's it, blew off the Tuesday night world criteriums due to getting payroll out to my employee's. I did manage to get up and get in a 28 mile ride this morning with light winds out and a bit of a nasty crosswind in. This kind of took me by surprise because usually if there is any wind that early it is a tailwind in, but not so much today. But it was still 70 degrees at 5:40 a.m. and sunny so I can't and won't complain. I was just blessed with the opportunity and ability to be out there.

I for one don't make to big of an issue about the shave or no shave thing. I can can only tell that it weighs my decision on the commitment of the other athlete in these said sports.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

But a fun weekend. Hope everyone was safe and sane. Had fun and spent time with family and friends.

Quick overview.

Friday night was dinner with friends at a great Brazilian restaurant and then cards until midnight.

Saturday was 70 +mile road bike ride with OC VELO. Hot weather upon us, 6 bottles of fluid and some moderate climbs. I felt good, nope felt very good and did more than held my own.

Sunday was a chill, do nothing day. Should have road, but opted for a short 4.7 mile run in some heat.

Monday was a pancake morning :-). I kept it real but still had 3.
Random stuff around the garden like picking fresh veggies !! Yeah for our own farmers market !! More on that later. then off to my sons new house for swimming, more cards, and a couple of adult beverages. Some really good hand rubbed ribs and a grip of spinach salad.
I really would have liked another bike in there, but it didn't happen. My discipline kind of sucked.
The TDF has been good racing in my opinion thus far.